Sig Christenson is a veteran military reporter who has made nine trips to the war zone. He writes regularly for Hearst about service members, veterans and heroes, among other topics. He is also the co-founder and former president of Military Reporters and Editors, founded in 2002.

737th Training Group

09/26/2012

Col. Deborah Liddick
took command Friday of an Air Force basic-training program tainted by a
sex scandal involving 18 instructors and dozens of women.

The
ceremony on the parade field at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland put the
spotlight on the Air Force's decision to place a woman in charge of the
737th Training Group, but her new boss said she didn't get the job because of her gender.

“Col. Liddick was the best-qualified officer that I think I could have made a recommendation for,” Col. Mark Camerer, commander of the 37th Training Wing, told the San Antonio Express-News.

“She's
a former commander, she has experience in command leading airmen, and
that's what I wanted,” he added, calling her “an experienced, decent
commander who could deal with this situation.”

Standing before a crowd of 3,500, Camerer handed the group's flag to Liddick in an assumption-of-command ceremony.

In
a short speech, Liddick told those in the Air Force's largest training
group “to focus on the mission, to transform civilians into motivated,
world-class airmen.”

“We need to continually instill pride and
demonstrate respect for each other,” she told the crowd, and called on
the airmen “to live the core values – integrity first, service before
self, excellence in all we do.”

Liddick made no mention of the
scandal in her four-minute speech, but both she and Camerer, who
oversees basic and technical training, are part of a sweeping leadership
change.

Replacing a pair of colonels who left after relatively
short stints, they were brought here to transform training in the wake
of the scandal, one of the worst in the U.S. military history.

Col. Deborah Liddick took command Friday of an Air Force basic-training program tainted by a sex scandal involving 18 instructors and dozens of women.

The ceremony on the parade field at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland put the spotlight on the Air Force's decision to place a woman in charge of the 737th Training Group, but her new boss said she didn't get the job because of her gender.

“Col. Liddick was the best-qualified officer that I think I could have made a recommendation for,” Col. Mark Camerer, commander of the 37th Training Wing, told the San Antonio Express-News.

“She's a former commander, she has experience in command leading airmen, and that's what I wanted,” he added, calling her “an experienced, seasoned commander who could deal with this situation.”

Standing before a crowd of 3,500, Camerer handed the group's flag to Liddick in an assumption-of-command ceremony.

In a short speech, Liddick told those in the Air Force's largest training group “to focus on the mission, to transform civilians into motivated, world-class airmen.”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Woman-now-heads-AF-training-3883461.php#ixzz2H4QumzWC

09/18/2012

As the Air Force seeks to manage the largest sex scandal in its
history, the selection of a woman to take charge of basic training at
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland drew praise as well as caution from
observers Monday.

The appointment Saturday of Col. Deborah Liddick as commander of the 737th Training Group
was a good start, experts agreed, but many more women need to come on
board a basic training program reeling from accusations of misconduct
against 18 instructors. At least 42 women have been identified as
victims.

Liddick's appointment comes amid a shake-up of the top ranks at
Lackland. Liddick, who currently is chief of Joint Base San
Antonio-Randolph's maintenance division, will take over the training
group Friday, a little more than a month after the previous commander,
Col. Glenn Palmer, was abruptly ousted over lack of confidence in his leadership.

A higher-level commander, Col. Eric Axelbank, who led the 37th Training Wing, abruptly stepped down this month after a little more than a year on the job.

“Seeing a female in charge, someone female trainees can identify with
at least on the surface, may help change the ‘keep quiet or suffer the
consequences' perception that exists in the basic training environment,”
said retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who led a 2003 investigation into a sex scandal at the Air Force Academy.

“On the other hand, there was a female colonel in a senior command
position at the Air Force Academy when the sexual assault scandal
occurred in 2003, and cadets viewed her as being a significant part of
the problem,” he added. “At the end of the day, it's performance, not
perception, that really matters, so we'll have to wait and see how Col.
Liddick does.”

08/11/2012

An Air Force colonel was relieved of his command Friday amid a growing sex scandal involving basic training instructors and recruits at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Col. Glenn Palmer lost command of the 737th Training Group, which trains more than 35,000 airmen a year at Lackland.

He was removed by Col. Eric Axelbank, commander of the 37th Training Wing at Lackland.

The San Antonio Express-News was told Axelbank “lost confidence” in Palmer, a point man in the base's efforts to identify and remove instructors who may have been involved in sexual relationships with recruits, many of them in basic training.

He also has worked to protect recruits from similar incidents.

Palmer is the second Lackland commander to be relieved in a scandal that has seen 15 instructors fall under investigation.

Lt. Col. Mike Paquette lost his job June 20 as commander of the 331st Training Squadron after Axelbank also lost confidence in his continued leadership. The Air Force has listed 38 trainees as victims.

Axelbank, the wing's commander for just over a year, will leave his command for a Pentagon job Sept. 4.

Colleen McGee, a spokeswoman for the 37th Training Wing, said Axelbank is not being forced out as a result of the scandal.

“Changes of command happen in leadership sometimes in one year, sometimes in two years,” she said. “There's not a set time on when they change.”